Manila - A Philippine government training agency on Friday
offered free English proficiency lessons to the country's contestants
to international beauty pageants following the poor showing of some
candidates in a local competition.
Augusto Syjuco, chief of the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority, lamented that English proficiency was
declining among Filipinos and many students were neglecting the
subject despite its importance.
He said beauty pageant contestants can avail of a 120-hour crash
course on English to help them prepare before they represent the
Philippines in international pageants.
'At the same time, we can also train them to answer the usual
questions that are asked in pageants,' he said. 'They will be
prepared not only on what to answer but also on what questions can be
given to them.'
Syjuco made the offer after the controversial win of a 17-year-old
contestant in the Philippines' top beauty pageant, despite struggling
during the question-and-answer portion in the final round of the
competition.
Janina San Miguel, who will represent the Philippines in the Miss
World competition, fumbled when asked what role her family played in
her bid to be a beauty queen.
She started to reply, saying, 'My family's role for me is so
important because they was the, they're, they was the one whose
very.' But she failed to finish and laughed it off.
She apologized, saying she never expected to make it to the 'tough
10,' and continued to reply, 'My family was the most important
persons in my life.'
Despite her bumbling performance, San Miguel won one of the
titles. She, however, has become the butt of jokes in the Philippines
and outside the country after footage of the competition made it to
the popular video sharing site YouTube.
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